


Constellations and Dragons

by 52Dreamer52



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cold Weather, Constellations, Cuddling, Dragons, F/M, Flower Crowns, Flowers, Love, Marriage, Nalu Week, Nalu week 2020, One Shot Collection, Pregnancy, Regret, Voice, beach, flirt, matching, proposal, sick, starry date
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/52Dreamer52/pseuds/52Dreamer52
Summary: Constellations and Dragons. They were both something filled with magic that one needed to take time in order to understand. I guess they went pretty well together in that sense. These are Nalu one-shots that I wrote for things like Nalu week and just to write. I hope you enjoy!
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 11
Kudos: 54





	1. Sweet Lullaby

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Voice  
> Natsu is bored, so he decides going to Lucy's house is the best plan of action. He didn't plan on falling asleep to the sound of her singing when he arrived.
> 
> Just a heads up, the song Lucy is singing is by Caroline Pennell, not me.

One thing Natsu found interesting about the night was how quiet things could be. The world slept, so there was not much left to make a sound, to begin with. Natsu always fidgeted when it was quiet. He didn’t know if he enjoyed it or loathed it. He had always been the loud type, he supposed. But, honestly, who could blame him? He just grew up that way. People knew Fairy Tail as loud and destructive. They were the loudest bunch of people in all of Fiore. If people were allowed to give out noise complaints, they would be getting them by the thousands.

He knew Lucy loved it, the quiet nights, that is. She said that it “makes for the perfect time to take a deep breath and just feel at peace." He had even seen her do this a couple times himself. He had to admit, she really did look at peace when she did that. Her eyes would be closed, her shoulders relaxed, and the slightest trace of a smile could be seen splayed across her lips.

Okay, fine, maybe the quiet night could be enjoyable, but it didn’t make him any less bored. He couldn’t do anything just because—what, people were  _ sleeping _ ? It couldn’t be that late, could it? Happy stayed over at Wendy’s place that night, trying to spend quality time with Carla again (something he did at least once a week), so he couldn’t hang out with him…

Then why not Lucy? She was bound to still be awake. He remembered her telling Levy how she always stayed up real late to do some writing. He didn’t get that either of course since the next day she would be complaining about being tired. There couldn’t be anything wrong with taking a small break to entertain her dear friend, right?

Sighing long and loud, Natsu got up from his couch. “Alright!” Natsu exclaimed. “Off to Lucy's house!”

* * *

As Natsu began scaling the building up to her window, he could hear the water running, the smell of her cherry blossom and apple shampoo assaulting his nose.  _ Of course. She’s showering…  _ he thought.

He grinned mischievously as an idea struck his mind. Boy was she in for a rude awakening when she got out of her bathroom. He could just see her face already.

People tended to assume that Natsu didn’t care or pay attention to how Lucy would feel because of his actions. The truth was, he just really liked to annoy her. He thought it was because of how her face looked before she got angry. Her nose would scrunch up, and her brows would furrow as she tried to keep her calm. Sometimes, he thought that her face would turn red from how long she held her breath. He found it hilarious! If she didn’t react the way she did all the time, he probably wouldn’t mess around with her at all—it’s a good thing she  _ always _ reacted that way.

Natsu didn’t try bothering her all the time. He knew she had her limits too, and he doubted she would enjoy being angry on days where she cried her eyes out. It was easy for him to tell these moments apart because of his heightened senses. Those were the perks of being a dragon slayer. The smell of salty tears would linger on her blanket and pillow for quite a while, and even then, he could always hear her sniffles before he went into her apartment. On those days, he would wait outside until he knew she had wiped all her tears away and the sniffles disappeared.

He would go up to her and give her a random hug, pretending that it was “just because” when, in reality, it was to comfort her. Then he would try and do something that would make her laugh, even if it meant tripping on his own two feet. He cared for Lucy with a passion, and he knew she cared for him just the same; he would go to the ends of the earth and back again for her.

Natsu opened her window and swiftly jumped on her bed.  _ Hmmm, how should I surprise her? _ He sat criss-cross on her bed.  _ Like this? No… _

He tiptoed to the wall beside her bathroom.  _ Maybe I can scare her… _ He grinned evilly. 

His eyes widened.  _ I’ve got it!  _ Sneaking to her bed, he crawled under her covers.  _ I’ll just pretend that I’m asleep. _ He cackled to himself.

He laid down flat on his back, the mischievous glint in his eyes still there. When his ears picked up on a sound coming from her bathroom, that mischievous glint turned into one of curiosity. Was Lucy...singing? No...she couldn’t be. Lucy never sings in the shower. Unless… Natsu tried listening closer, her voice becoming clearer.

“Follow...follow the sun. And which way the wind blows...when this day is done.”

She really  _ was _ singing, he realized. He hadn’t heard her sing before, even with how much time he spent in her apartment. Her voice mesmerized him. He sighed as he kept listening.

“Tomorrow’s a new day for everyone...A brand new moon and a brand new sun.”

He felt his eyelids drooping to her soft voice. Hearing her voice like this, rather than its usual loudness...he couldn’t help but smile a little. He could get used to this.

“And breathe...breathe in the air. Cherish this moment, cherish this breath.”

A quiet yawn fell from his lips, grogginess creeping up on him even more. His plans to annoy Lucy were far from his mind at this point. Sleep pulled at him, coaxing him to lose consciousness, but he wanted to listen to Lucy finish singing the song. 

But as her humming filled his ears, he wondered if she would sing to him every night from then on because he couldn't get enough of her voice.

That was his last thought before he succumbed to sleep, snoring almost silently as he mumbled the name of the blonde mage in his sleep.

* * *

As she continued to hum, she exited out of the bathroom.

Singing in the shower was uncommon for Lucy, normally veering towards letting her thoughts wander to the events of the day or new writing ideas, but when she heard a mother in Magnolia singing her baby to sleep, her thoughts drifted to her own mother. 

That song used to be the highlight of her day. Her mother always sang it to her before she went to bed. Even on stormy nights when the thunder and lightning were relentless, the song would help soothe her. Looking back at the song, she had a feeling it had more to do with living in the moment and day to day rather than hope. As a young girl, she felt like it told her that there would always be time for things the next day. It gave her hope that things would get better, especially during those lonely nights in the mansion after her mother died. Who knows, maybe it meant both.

Lucy didn't notice Natsu until she was just about to jump into bed.

Her first reaction was to scream and shout at him, maybe give him a Lucy Kick to the gut for good measure. He shouldn’t be sleeping in her bed—he shouldn’t have been breaking into her house at all! When she saw that he was passed out dead, though, she reconsidered what she would do. 

He looked calm beyond belief with his eyes closed and lips slightly parted. Lucy was so used to seeing his unruly and energetic personality just shine, that she forgot he needed rest as much as anyone else did. Fires couldn’t be his only source of energy forever. 

While lost in thought, she couldn’t help but wonder if the quiet that engulfed her apartment was just a dream. Even when Natsu slept in her home, Happy would be there too, mumbling in his sleep about fish. She would certainly not waste this moment.

Sighing in content, she closed her eyes.  _ Mmm, quiet… _

She supposed...she supposed she could let Natsu off the hook for sneaking into her apartment but  _ just  _ for tonight. He didn't need to get used to her being okay with him sleeping in her bed, no matter how much she enjoyed how warm he could be in the winter.

Sighing again, she crawled into bed as she gently moved Natsu a little closer to the wall. And when he brought his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, she didn't bother complaining.  _ Just for tonight,  _ she told herself, as sleep started to consume her as quickly as it did Natsu.  _ Just for tonight… _


	2. No Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is going to be leaving the country to go to the college of her dreams. Natsu doesn't know what to do, and time isn't slowing down any time soon. This might be Natsu's last chance to tell Lucy he loves her, but will worry and fear stop him from doing the one thing he'll regret never doing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nalu Week Prompt: Regret

When Natsu thought of what was "normal" for him, he certainly did not think taking time out of his day to just lay in his bed with his face stuck in a pillow to think was part of it. Natsu thought of himself as more of a just-do-what-you-want-to-do sort of guy. Maybe that was why he got in trouble so much, maybe it wasn’t. So, why did Natsu take the time to think about things after never really doing so before, you might ask? 

Natsu had a problem, and, this time, it was _not_ about needing food or being hungry. No, the problem was, his best friend and the person he just so happened to be in love with would be leaving the country for four years in less than a week.

It’s not like he didn’t want her to go—it was her _dream_ —he just… didn’t want her… to go… Could you blame him, though? He had known Lucy for as long as he could remember, meeting her at age 5. Natsu could not imagine himself going a day without her. Ever since that fateful day in the park, they had been joined to each other by the hip. Natsu had been with Lucy through all of her ups and downs, and her with his. It was just luck that they were able to stay with each other in school, too.

Don’t get him wrong, he knew she would be leaving, _had_ known for a year, it just didn’t dawn on him that he wouldn’t _see_ her for four years until about a month or two ago. Now, she would be leaving soon, and he still didn’t know how to deal with it. 

It didn’t help that he had been doing so much thinking, that he ended up unintentionally avoiding Lucy. He could only imagine how much he might have hurt her. His actions only added on to the pain Lucy already felt. He knew she didn’t want to leave her friends any more than they wanted her to leave them. She needed her best friend _comforting_ her right now, not wallowing around in his own sorrow. 

Natsu growled. Why did he have to be so difficult?! Getting up from his bed with narrowed eyes and a frown, he thought, _You know what? I think it’s time for a run._

Natsu jogged down from his room and the front door. If anything could make him forget about everything going on in his life, a run could.

* * *

Natsu didn’t know how long he ended up running for when he finally decided to take a break on a park bench. The number of times he circled around the park evaded him. As Natsu leaned his head back, he sighed and closed his eyes. A gust of wind passed him, and he couldn’t be more grateful. The sound of children’s laughter and shouting voices filled his ears.

He missed being a child (Though some would say he still is one...). Things were simpler back then. He didn’t have to worry about growing up or the future. All he had to worry about was being careful when he played, and, even then, he still didn’t worry about that very often. No matter how much time in the world Natsu had, he would never be able to count the number of scoldings he got from Lucy for hurting himself. He smiled at the memory. Oh, how much he missed it.

Of course, he had to admit, things weren’t always peachy as kids. The bench he sat on was the exact bench where Natsu held Lucy close when she learned her mother died. As he walked home from hanging out at Gray’s house when he ran into Lucy. Loose strands of hair fell from her pigtails, her eyes red and swollen. Natsu brought her to the bench to calm her down, but the tears fell relentlessly, only stopping when she fell asleep. His heart ached at the sight.

When he thought about it, that might have been the moment he started to develop more romantic feelings for the girl. He thought it just a small crush at first, but when he saw her crying, he knew he would do anything to make sure she didn’t cry again. 

This brought him back to his current predicament. He had barely talked to her at all lately, and she probably thought she did something wrong!

A frustrated groan escaped him as he pulled at his hair.

“The hell’s wrong with you?” a voice he knew all too well questioned.

Great, just great, because he wanted to start arguing with someone today too. “Ice Princess…” he snarled as one of his eyes twitched. “ _What?”_

“Jeez, Fire Breath,” he said back defensively, hands up in the air, “remind me not to check up on you next time you look like you’re going crazy…”

Natsu sighed, putting his face in his hands. Even he knew he was acting like a jerk. “I...sorry—” 

Gray’s eyes widened, he said _sorry?_ He knew something was up with how he had been lately, but he didn’t think it was this bad.

—“ I just...I dunno, okay? Lucy’s gonna leave in less than a week, and I haven’t even _talked_ to her in... _God_ , I don’t even know how long it’s been since I’ve talked to her!” He rubbed a hand down his face.

Gray gave him a look that said, “Are you stupid?”

“Look,” Gray said, “just...go talk to her. You’re best friends, aren’t you?”

“Yeah...But still! She’s probably angry at me or something.” Natsu deflated. “She probably doesn’t even want me there to say goodbye at this point…I don’t think I’m gonna go, there’s no point.”

Gray sighed, taking a seat next to Natsu on the bench. “You love her, right?”

Natsu straightened, his cheeks turning pink. “W-what makes you say that!”

Gray rubbed his temple. Was he really that stupid, or did he think that Gray was? “Everyone knows, you idiot…”

“W-well...why does it matter anyway?”

“Are you really telling me you’re never going to tell Lucy that you love her?”

“I don’t know!” he shouted. He resisted the urge to pull at his hair again. “I’ve been busy thinkin’ about Lucy leaving...”

Gray sighed again. He might as well just get straight to the point. “You know you love her, Natsu, there’s no denying that. But if you don’t tell her now, you might not ever get to tell her at all. She’s going to be gone for 4 _years_. I don’t think she could live 4 years without falling in love with someone… especially when there’s no one for her to wait for.” 

Gray leaned forward, staring ahead. “I know we’re always telling you not to do something you’ll regret, but make sure you don’t stop yourself from doing something that you’ll regret not doing later either. Fear… that’s temporary, but regret...that lasts forever, so if you’re not going to go see her so you can say goodbye, at least go to tell her that you love her.”

Natsu couldn’t speak. He didn’t expect Gray to give him advice, let alone a speech.

Gray chuckled as he patted Natsu on the back. “I’m gonna go. Just...think about what I said. Lucy’s like a sister to me, and I don’t think she would want to leave without saying bye to her best friend.”

And, again, Natsu was alone on the park bench with only a hurricane of thoughts to keep him company.

* * *

It was official, Natsu hated himself. Even after everything Gray said, he still didn’t take the time to talk to Lucy. Now, Lucy would be leaving in less than 5 hours. He didn’t have any more time to speak to Lucy in person except for today. If he didn’t go see her now, all he would have left is a stupid voicemail she left the day before.

Natsu didn’t mean for the call to go to voicemail. He would have answered the phone, promise! She just _had_ to decide to call him when his phone decided dying on him would be a good idea. 

When he finally turned his phone on again, he saw the voicemail she left. The first thing he did was curse to himself for missing her phone call, and after fully berating himself, he listened to her voicemail.

“Hey, Natsu! I’m guessing you’ve been pretty busy lately,” she said, and he felt a wave of guilt. Of course, she would think that; she always believed the best in him, “but I just wanted to let you know I’ll be leaving for the plane at 5:00.” She paused. “Umm, I-I get if it’ll hurt you too much to say bye, though...” She laughed, and he smiled at the sound. “Knowing you, you’d probably try and kidnap me just to keep from going…” 

He heard her maid in the background. “Are you done packing, Princess?”

“Uh, yeah, I am Virgo, thanks!” Another pause. Natsu assumed she had been trying to figure out what else to say. “Well...that’s it for now. I’ll talk to you another time, yeah? Bye!”

When Natsu exhaled after the voicemail ended, he realized he had been holding his breath throughout the whole thing. Why did she have to be so considerate! He knew she had good intentions, but it just made him feel worse than he already did. He couldn’t leave her without a proper goodbye, that would not be fair to Lucy. He knew all their other friends were going to say goodbye. Hell, they probably already did.

But, she said he didn’t have to go say bye, right? That meant she would understand if he didn’t show up...right?

Ah, who was he kidding? He was just a coward trying to make excuses to avoid rejection.

Gray’s words repeated in his head. _I know we’re always telling you not to do something you’ll regret, but make sure you don’t stop yourself from doing something that you’ll regret not doing later either._

He already knew he would regret not telling her, it would come the instant he didn’t tell her, but the fact of the matter was doing so might just ruin their friendship. Just _thinking_ of Lucy feeling awkward near him and not being able to talk to him twisted his insides. He could not let that happen. Ever. 

Still...Gray’s words had some truth in them, and Natsu rarely said that. He loved Lucy, and if he didn’t say something now, he might not be able to tell her he loves her ever. She was an incredible person who deserved the world and more! She could have anyone she wanted to if she tried, he didn’t doubt that for a second.

That led him to another thought. Could Natsu handle seeing her with another guy? His throat and chest felt tight at the idea. It hurt, and he couldn’t seem to get air into his lungs. He would end up distancing himself from her either way. So, why not tell her he loves her then? At least that option had one good outcome. Maybe Lucy loved him back, maybe she wanted to be with him too. Maybe his love wasn’t as unrequited as he thought it was. And at that idea, Natsu’s heart felt lighter.

To hell with it, he told himself. He would tell Lucy he loved her, whether she loved him back or not. Even more than that, he couldn’t let her leave without saying goodbye. He couldn’t do that to his best friend because she deserved more than that.

So, he ran. He ran past the high school they made memories in, past the middle school they spent pulling pranks on their friends, past the park where they met, past the bench where he held Lucy close as she cried on his shoulder...He kept running until he reached her house. He didn’t stop to look back, and he didn’t hesitate in a single one of his steps.

His heart pounded in his ears. He didn’t know if he made it in time, and the anxiety from that fact couldn’t be more clear. Lucy told him that she was leaving at 5:00 in the evening. She said she would understand if it hurt him too much to say goodbye, but he couldn’t imagine letting Lucy leave without telling her he loves her. He couldn’t let her go without knowing, not anymore. 

“Lucy!” he shouted. “Lucy!” His fists pounded on her door, silently praying that someone, anyone, would open the door. “Lucy! Luc—”

The door flew open, and there in front of him stood the woman he loved, his best friend. Her golden hair shone brightly and her brown eyes turned amber in the light of the sun. _Beautiful…_ “N-Natsu?” she said. “What are you doing here!” She smiled wide, but it slowly waned. “I...I honestly didn’t think you’d come...I knew it would have been hard for _me_ to say goodbye if you were leaving.” 

Looking closer, Natsu noticed her slightly red and puffy eyes. She really _had_ been crying...and he wasn’t there for her. Natsu broke. Unblinking, he pulled her into a warm embrace, and he heard her gasp. “Sorry, Lucy, sorry,” he mumbled into her ear.

A sharp intake of breath came from Lucy, something Natsu knew she did when she tried to hold in her tears. He held her tighter. When he heard her whimper, he knew she couldn’t stop the tears from falling any longer. He pulled away just enough to see her face and brought a hand to her cheek. He wiped away the small tears that fell, threatening to stain her cheeks. He gave her a small smile in an attempt to cheer her up. “Hey, what are you crying for?”

She tried laughing, but a sob escaped her lips instead. “I-I know I told you you didn’t have to come, but—” another sob racked through her body as she gripped on to the front of his shirt, looking for some sort of support— “I was really hoping you would. I don’t...I don’t want to leave you, Natsu.”

His heart throbbed, and he began to worry that he might start to cry too. That certainly wouldn’t help Lucy’s current form. He tried giving her another smile, and it grew when she gave him a small smile of her own. “Don’t worry,” Natsu said, voice no more than a whisper. “You’ll always have me. I’m,” it was now or never, “I’m yours...now and forever.”

She looked up at him with eyebrows scrunched and her lips in a small pout. He gave out a breathy laugh. God, she was almost too adorable for him to handle. He leaned his head forward, his lips ghosting her own. His heart felt like it had when he ran there, fast and rampant. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lucy could feel his beating heart through her loose hold on his shirt. 

Her eyes bore into his, trying to figure out what he was going to do. Maybe she thought he was messing with her or that Natsu would start laughing in a few seconds and call her a weirdo. Or maybe she thought this was a dream, just a simple figment of her imagination. Her silent question hung in the air, _What is this?_

“I love you,” he finally said, planting his lips on hers.

He felt her tense slightly, and he worried that he might have made a mistake. But when she finally kissed him back, her arms sliding up to link behind his neck, he felt his heart burst into an explosion of euphoria and relief. 

Their lips moved against each other in a slow rhythm, both of them trying to convey just how much they love each other. Natsu’s hand came down to cup the side of Lucy’s neck, and he held her waist with the other. Natsu pulled her closer, not wanting to ever let her go.

All his fears and worries drifted away. The sadness he had been feeling the previous days left. The tension in his shoulders disappeared, and if he didn’t have Lucy in his arms, holding him down, he truly would have felt like he was flying.

When he finally felt the need for air pulling at his lungs, he pulled away gently, her lips trailing after his own. He pressed his forehead against hers as a smile spread across his face. The sound of her breathing filled his ears.

“I...I love you, too,” she said between her breaths. 

He gave out a breathy laugh, “Yeah, I thought you might.” He kissed her again.

“You know you could have told me you loved me way earlier. Now I’m not going to see you for a really long time...” She brought her arms around his torso and pressed her head against his shoulder.

He sighed. He knew Lucy was right. If he had just told her sooner, maybe things might have been a little easier when she had to leave. “Sorry,” he told her, the only thing he could think to say.

She squeezed him tighter. “It’s fine. I’m just glad you told me. I’m really, _really_ glad.” Silence passed between them. “...will...will you wait for me?” she asked. Would you be able to wait for me?”

“Of Course!” he said quickly, falling out of the embrace to meet her gaze. “I’d wait forever and then some just to be with you. You’re still my best friend...I can’t go forgetting you that easily.”

She laughed, and Natsu smiled, happy that she was happy. “Yeah,” she said, “I guess that’s true…”

“You’ll wait for me too?”

“You’re my best friend, I’ll always wait for you.”

When Natsu thought his smile could get any bigger, it did. He leaned down to kiss her again

Just as Natsu was centimeters away, a voice came from inside her house. “Lucy! We’re leaving for the airport in 10!” a voice Natsu recognized as Lucy’s father shouted.

Backing away, he sighed, “It’s that time then, huh?”

A frown tugged at the corner of her lips. “Yeah...yeah, it is.”

Natsu gave her a crooked grin “Go on, then. You’ve been dreaming of going to that college your whole life, don’t let anything stop you.” 

Lucy’s eyes shone, and he feared she might begin to cry again. Instead, she smiled, saying, “Thank you, Natsu, so much.” She hugged him one last time before slamming her lips onto his. Natsu had to hold her still before he fell back. 

When she heard her father call her one last time, she pulled away. “Coming!” she shouted back to him. She let go of Natsu’s hand as she backed into her house. “I love you, Natsu.”

He smiled sadly. He didn’t want Lucy to leave. Natsu wanted her to stay more than he needed to breathe, but he knew he had to let her go.

“I’ll...I’ll see you later,” she said as she smiled back to him.

Natsu nodded in understanding. They _were_ going to see each other again. She wasn’t leaving forever, and they could always call and text each other. That’s what phones were for. It would be agonizing waiting to see her, but he just had to keep telling himself that it would make the reunion that much sweeter. He said he would wait forever for her, and he meant. So, what were 4 years compared to forever?

Natsu gave out a love-sick sigh as he began to walk back home. She loved him...He laughed as he looked up at the sky. He couldn't believe it. Lucy _loved him_. He shook his head, trying to hold back his smile. He had a feeling it would take him a while to get used to that. He didn’t know how he got lucky enough to have someone as magnificent and lovely as her love him back, but one thing’s for sure, he would never regret going to her home to tell her just how much she means to him.


	3. Not How it Was Supposed to Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy goes out to the bar with her friend to play a flirting game of theirs, but when she approaches a pink-haired man with the intention of getting his number, things don't go the way she expects them to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Flirt

As Lucy and Levy walked into the crowded bar known as Fairy Tail, the sound of glasses clinking, shouting, and music blared in their ears. Levy turns to Lucy. “You ready?” she asked.

Lucy smirked. “Definitely.”

Lucy Heartfilia and her friend Levy McGarden were finally going out for a night of drinking and, in their case, gambling after not having gone out for a whole three months. It wasn’t normally like this, but it seemed any time one of them had a free schedule, the other was busy.

Sitting at the bar, they order their drinks, Lucy an alcoholic one and Levy one without. What? There has to be someone capable of driving back. Unless another friend came along with them, at least one of the girls would usually be going the night without alcohol.

“How many numbers do you think you’re going to get tonight, Lu?” Levy questioned.

Lucy hummed. She didn’t really know. It had been so long since Lucy last went out willingly trying to flirt it up with random guys. She might have lost her game. “I’m not sure, honestly.”

“I say,” Levy began, “that you’ll get at least one.”

“Oh, haha. I appreciate all the faith you have in me.”

Levy laughed loudly, clutching her stomach, and soon enough, Lucy joined in laughing along with her.

When their drinks finally came, Lucy sipped it slowly, not wanting to quicken her intoxication and, ultimately, their night. Lucy wanted to spend time catching up and talking. That, and they hadn’t even started their game.

The first time Lucy and Levy started this game of theirs was when Lucy was having some rare self-esteem issues. Lucy loved herself, from how her body looked to her mind, but, one overly negative comment she overheard, and all that self-love seemed to disappear. Levy took Lucy to the bar to cheer her up, and that eventually led to her betting that Lucy could get the phone numbers of 3 guys at the bar. Not wanting to back down from a challenge, Lucy went off to go flirt with random guys, rounding up numbers, the rest simply history. Each time they went out drinking, they gambled with each other, and whoever lost paid for the drinks.

While Lucy continued with her sipping, Levy started her scanning of the bar for Lucy’s first attempt at getting a phone number. The first guy was always Levy’s choice. When she looked for guys for Lucy to approach, she avoided going for the ones that seemed like creeps. So far, she’d been able to avoid the creeps, and she couldn’t be more thankful. Either way, Lucy was smart enough to know when to leave a guy who gave off bad vibes.

The first guy that caught Levy’s attention had black hair and glasses, dressed in a sleek suit. He looked nice enough, but he seemed stuck up and arrogant from the way he held his head up just a little too high for anyone’s comfort. Something Levy knew would make Lucy lose her cool. It would be funny to watch, but maybe for another night.

When Levy looked around again, her eyes landed on a man just beginning to take a seat at the bar. He sat on the complete opposite side as the two girls. He intrigued her, with unruly pink hair that he somehow was able to make look good. Other than that, he could pass as any other stranger, with black eyes and a harmless demeanor, sporting a plain tee and jeans.  _ Perfect,  _ Levy thought.

Levy tapped on Lucy’s shoulder to get her attention. When Lucy turned to her, she spoke. “Okay, see that guy with the pink hair,” she said, trying to be discrete when she pointed to him.

Lucy nodded as she took a glance in the man’s direction.

“Okay,” Levy said again, “he’s the first guy you’re going to try and get a number from.”

Lucy smirked, getting up from her seat. “Got it.”

She began to walk towards him, her hips swaying left and right in a dramatic fashion. When she got to him, she took a seat beside him, pretending as if he wasn’t there. She called the bartender over to order another drink, this one with a little less alcohol than her other drink. She took a peek at him from the corner of her eye, only to quickly look away the next second. “So,” she said, her voice smooth and sultry, “what are you doing out tonight?”

The pink-haired man turned his head towards her in acknowledgment. He smiled, sharp fangs being revealed behind his lips. “Just out with a cousin of mine.” He pointed to the door. “He’s finding parking right now, I think.” 

She finally turned to fully face him, taking a second to drink in his appearance. The pink hair was outrageous and stood out in more ways than one. His eyes were dark and pulled her into their depths. She had seen so many people with black eyes, yet his eyes seemed to draw her in like no one else’s eyes could. She had to fight the urge to look away and push down the blush she felt creeping up on her. “Special occasion?” she asked. She hoped she was the only one who could hear the slight quiver in her voice. God, what was happening to her? She never felt like this! She needed to get her head in the game.

He laughed, taking a moment to look her up and down. Lucy  _ definitely _ noticed. “Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p’. He propped his chin up on one of his hands. “What about you, huh? What are you doing out tonight?”

Lucy shrugged, taking that chance to look away from him as she looked towards her drink being placed down. She smiles at the bartender as a thank you. “Nothing much, I’m just alone tonight.”

She heard the man chuckle. “Yeah?” he said.

“Mhhm.” She looked back at him, fluttering her eyelashes a little.

He leaned close to her ear, his lips just barely brushing her skin. His breath felt hot against her, and she tried her hardest to stay calm.

“Because I could’ve sworn I heard you talking to your friend over there.”

His breath felt like fire when he actually spoke, and even Lucy can’t fight the blush that forms on her cheeks. But that was not the problem, the problem was, he heard them. All she could think was,  _ This was not how it was supposed to go… _ How did he hear them?! They were on opposite sides of the bar, for goodness’ sake!

As the pink-haired man pulled away, he saw her face, both the blush and her tight-knit brows. He laughed. “I have really good hearing,” he told her. 

Lucy lowered her head, flushing even redder than before. She had never been in a situation like this. She gasped to herself quietly. Did he hear their  _ whole _ conversation? She didn’t know what to do! “Sorry,” she said finally. She didn’t want to ask him her question, but she knew she had to. “You...you heard what we were talking about.

He laughed, and Lucy felt as though he were enjoying this situation much more than he should be. “Uh, let me think...You’re trying to get my number?” He smiles through it all as Lucy is busy praying for the Earth to swallow her whole.

Her plans were fooled. She still didn’t even know how someone more than 15 feet away could hear all that. “Sorry,” she said again. She picked up her drink, getting ready to go back to Levy. Staying in this embarrassing situation would only make things worse. Never mind the fact that her face only continued to redden. “I’ll...I’ll go now.” 

But, before she can even begin in Levy’s direction, the man beside her grabbed her hand. “Wait!” he shouted. She looked back at him to see a crooked grin on his face. A slight pink tint of his own adorned his cheeks. “I never said I won’t give you it. He let go of her hand. “Ah...let me buy you a...uh, another drink?”

She looked at him with wide eyes, mouth agape. Yeah...this was definitely  _ not _ how it was supposed to go. She didn’t know what to say. He seemed kind from what she had seen so far, and had a good sense of humor, too. He gave her the impression that he thought of life as a roller coaster ride he was hell-bent on enjoying, and it enticed Lucy. Adventure was something she strived for in life. If this man could give her this, she would gladly spend more time with—Hold on a minute. _ No,  _ she thought, _ what are you thinking, Lucy?! This is a flirting game. You are  _ not _ supposed to find someone you would actually think of _ — "Sure,” she said.  _ WHAT?! _

He gave her a radiant smile. “Great,” he said. “I’m Natsu Dragneel.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she didn’t miss this. The first second after her heart skipped, she felt fear. Love didn’t come easily to Lucy, rarely falling for people. It scared her that this man she hadn’t even known a day could make her heart skip a beat. She almost ran away from him right then and there. But the next second after her heart skipped a beat, she felt an overwhelming warmth blossom in her chest, and she had to suppress the urge to sigh. Falling may be scary, but it just might be worth it. She smiled back at him and giggled. “Lucy Heartfilia.”

Natsu sighed as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “Lucy…” Quiet wouldn’t have been a way to describe their surroundings, but when Natsu looked back at Lucy with his brilliantly dark eyes and smiled at her, everything else around them disappeared, leaving only her and Natsu. “I have a feeling I’m really gonna like you,” he told her. And Lucy had an even stronger feeling she wouldn’t be playing that flirting game of hers anytime soon.


	4. Falling Flowers

To say Lucy was having a bad day was an understatement. When she got sick way back when it was Monday, she thought it would go away; it wasn’t that big a deal, it was just a headache! Which then turned into a sore throat and then hot and cold flashes. Yeah...it wasn’t going well. She almost stayed home that Friday too, but she only had that day left, and then it was the weekend. 

She had a test for her A.P. class that day, and she couldn’t miss it. If she aced this test, her grade would finally bump up to an A. That was all she wanted.

To make matters worse, it also happened to be the day of her school’s spring fling. It was one of the larger events that were celebrated at Fairy Tail High School. Paper flowers could be found everywhere on the school walls with banners that had painted flowers hanging from the ceiling. Flower Grams were an event they left the last few days leading up to the dance for. Lucy enjoyed being able to see how giddy people would get over getting a flower. It was always a magnificent sight to behold.

She didn’t have a date, but she still wanted to go with her friends. Especially her best friend, Natsu. You didn’t have to ask Lucy to know how much she loved the doofus. Hearts were practically _shooting_ out of her eyes. It’s too bad the idiot couldn’t see that himself, but maybe it was better that way, Lucy thought. She wouldn’t want to wreck their friendship over her feelings for him, no matter how much she was willing to try the relationship thing out.

Sighing, Lucy slammed her locker door shut, books in hand, and slugged towards the A.P. class she came all the way to school for. To believe it was only 10:30...

* * *

Lucy approached the lunch table, slamming her things down, and startling everyone. Groaning, she rested her head in her hands. Her eyes were hooded, and things felt hazy.

Silence; that was what she was met with, and she didn’t need to be told why. She knew she looked a mess. With paleness in her already-pale complexion, frazzled hair, a red nose, and bloodshot eyes. How couldn’t she look like a mess? Of course, that didn’t stop her ever so cheerful friend, Cana, from saying something.

“You look high.”

Another groan escaped Lucy as she attempted to slam her head down on her books, Natsu holding her back. Natsu gently lowered her head on the table. She mumbled, “I’m not high, I’m sick.” Her voice sounded congested and muffled. She could only blame her stuffy nose.

She felt a hand on her back, rubbing it in gentle circles. _Natsu,_ she thought.

“But you were so excited about the dance tonight!” she heard Levy shout.

She sighed, frustration and exhaustion both lacing it. “I honestly wish I could go, Levy, but I think after this I’ll be going home to nap, drink medicine, and _hopefully_ , hopefully, get better.”

Maybe if Lucy had kept her head up, she would have seen the disappointment on Natsu’s face, and the sorry looks everyone else was giving him. Pulling Lucy up by her shoulders, he said, “Come on, Lucy! You gotta eat somethin’ if you ever wanna feel better.”

With another groan, she brought her forehead to his shoulder, choosing to lean on him for support next. “If I eat anything in this school, I think I’ll vomit.”

“At least, eat this apple!” he told her, stealing it from his tray. “Don’t they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away?”

“That’s just a saying, Natsu!”

“...It is?” he said, even though she knew he was just trying to cheer her up at this point, she still laughed.

A giggle escaped her, and she hugged her best friend. “Thanks,” she said, looking up at him with a smile.

He grinned back at her with a smile that was almost too big for his face. “No problem!”

 _Let’s hope my surprise for you later makes you smile like that, too,_ he thought.

* * *

While Lucy was busy powering through her classes, she couldn’t be bothered to notice that she hadn’t gotten a single Flower Gram that whole day. Even if she never got a flower from secret admirers, her friends would usually take the time to give her at least one. Regardless, her pounding headache wouldn’t have allowed her to think about it anyways.

So, when she went into her last class of the day (creative writing), she didn’t expect to find dozens of red and pink carnations littering the room. When her eyes landed on her long time best friend standing in the middle of it all with his hands in his pockets, she thought she might have been dreaming.

Her eyes met his in an instant, and he smiled at her. With that, all her thoughts were brought back to how much of a mess she looked. But the way he was looking at her stopped those thoughts because all she saw in them was love. Love and love and more love. She ran up to him with as much strength as her sick body could allow and hugged him with all her might.

“What’s this?” she asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

She felt his arms come up around her to hug her back. He chuckled, and she could feel the vibrations coming off his chest. “I was planning on asking you to the dance today, but—”

Lucy pulled away slightly to look him in the eye. “Wha—”

“ _But,”_ Natsu interrupted, “you got all sick like you are now, so that plan kinda went out the window. I’m kinda just wingin’ it at this point.” He laughed. “I honestly didn’t expect to go any further than you asking who this whole thing was for.”

Lucy froze and blushed. She whacked his shoulder lightly. “I’m not that stupid! I’m your best friend; if you liked someone, I would have known.”

He hummed. “Mmm, I’m not so sure about that. You obviously couldn’t tell I like _you.”_

Lucy was left a sputtering mess as she turned redder, making her sudden heat flash more unbearable. She buried her face in Natsu’s chest as she mumbled. “Well, _you_ obviously couldn’t tell that I like you either…” She took that moment to jab Natsu in his side, and he yelped.

He pulled back, holding his sides in protection as he laughed. “Hey, don’t do that!” he shouted.

She stepped forward to try and poke him one more time, but before she could, Natsu grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him again. “Let’s go on a date.”

Laughing, she told him, “Yeah.”

“Alright!” he said. As he leaned towards her, to what Lucy assumed was going to be a kiss, she covered his mouth and pulled back.

“I’m still sick, Natsu!”

“So what?”

Lucy was flabbergasted. “Wh—’So what?’ What do you mean so what!' Unless you want to get sick too, it’s a no.”

Natsu pouted and Lucy had to fight the urge to do just what he wanted. “Fine,” he said. Then he smirked. “But as soon as you’re better, I’m kissing you right after.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, you know.”

“I can still hug you though, right?”

“Like that’s ever stopped you before!”

Natsu laughed, throwing his head back, and the two continued on with their talking until he finally had to leave.

Lucy didn’t think it was ever possible to like a day like the day she had today, but, of course, Natsu made what seemed impossible possible. She couldn’t be happier about that. Being sick didn’t worry her that much anymore. No, she just had to worry about how to get all these flowers back home…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters are gonna be based off of prompts that I saw on the nalufluffweek Tumblr page. They were nice and this is apparently supposed to be Nalu Fluff Week? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I did a bit of research on flowers, and, fun fact, apparently red carnations mean, "My heart aches for you." It was really beautiful, so I thought those would be best to use. Also, even though Lucy went to school sick, I highly suggest that you stay home. I've gone to school when my eyes were burning and I could barely breathe all for one test, and it was not fun.
> 
> The flower gram idea I got from that day because I was selling candy cane grams on the day I went to school sick. Someone actually said I looked high! It was a crazy day overall, and I went home early and it didn't end as well as Lucy's, but I like how this little one-shot ended.
> 
> For anyone who actually read all the way to here, thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave a comment if you like, but I really don't mind if you don't as long as you enjoyed yourself.


	5. Stars Watching Over Us

“Can you see it?” Lucy asked. At the moment, she was holding the hand of her boyfriend as they stood in the empty field, no trees in sight for miles. It was late, nearly midnight, but that was the only time where it was dark enough to see the stars in summer. “It’s Scorpio! There’s this hook shape that extends into three different sections at the top…” She gestured towards the stars that made those shapes. “Ooh! And there’s Lyra!” she shouted, moving on to point right above them. “She’s a really small constellation, and just five stars make it up.” 

Lucy continued her search for the constellations she spent most of her youth learning and memorizing out of fascination for the world beyond the one she can touch. It was like the stars had put her under a spell, Lucy unable to tear her eyes away from the sky. 

A cool breeze brushed by the two people, reminding her just how much colder it could get at night. Her boyfriend’s hand radiated warmth, and she couldn’t be any more grateful for his excessive body heat.

Lucy gasped when she spotted Capricorn in the sky, low and close to the horizon. “Oh my gosh! Natsu, we can see  _ Capricorn  _ from here!” She had to keep herself from jumping up and down, but Natsu could feel her practically vibrating.

He would say that he was jealous of the stars she adored so much, but then he’d be lying. He loved watching her watch the stars. He never could tell what shapes she was pointing out, everything just looked like stars to him. 

Still, he was glad she even tried explaining what she saw through her eyes to him. It made his heart warm every time. It was like getting a glimpse into the beautiful world she sees, even if it was a little blurry for him. And if that wasn’t enough to not be jealous of the stars, the angel-like glow it cast down on his lovely girlfriend was. She radiant in the night and he was glad she still held his hand, because if she didn’t he would have a hard time convincing himself that this was real.

It had taken them so long to get together and even longer for them to realize each other’s feelings. Even if they hadn’t started dating, Natsu would have been content with just having her in his life At least...he hoped. It didn’t matter anymore, though, because Natsu was all Lucy’s and Lucy was all his and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He threw his head back and laughed. “You know, you could say thank you to me for bringing you here,” he joked.

With another gasp, Lucy turned to throw her arms around Natsu as she chanted thank you’s into his ear. For a second, Natsu thought she might cry. He laughed lightly into her ear as he pulled her so close that not even air was between their bodies. “So...you like it then?”

She pulled back to look at him, eyes filled with disbelief. “ _ Like it. _ I  _ love  _ it. God, do you have any idea how bad light pollution can actually get? The most I can see in the city is Ursa Major, and even then, it’s just the Big Dipper. This is amazing! I don’t even know how you found out about this place!” She escaped his hug to turn around in circles, taking in the scenery surrounding them.

“It wasn’t that hard. Me, mom, dad, and Wendy went camping around here once. I didn’t find this empty place until I went out running one morning...and this definitely isn’t a city, so light pollution wasn’t a problem. I noticed how few bugs there were here, too. It was like the perfect spot for you, and I thought you’d like and knew I wanted to bring you here, so now here we are!”

Natsu wasn’t looking at Lucy when he spoke, looking up at the stars to take them in himself, so when he looked back and saw her staring at him with watery eyes, shining with the reflection of the stars in them...he was worried to say the least. Not knowing what to do, he walked towards her and circled his arms around her waist.

“This,” Lucy said, her voice shaky and eyes still staring up at him, “is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me and I love you, so,  _ so _ much, Natsu Dragneel.”

His eyes widened at her declaration, but with a soft, crooked smile that he knew only she could make him do, he lowered his head slowly to give her a gentle kiss on the lips. He rested his forehead on hers, telling her, “I love you too, Lucy.” Despite how soft his voice was, the conviction held there was impossible not to hear.

Her lip quivered as tears pooled down her cheeks, and she had to bite it to stop the quivering. She tried opening her mouth a few times, trying to say  _ something _ , but it seemed Natsu Dragneel had rendered Lucy Heartfilia, master of words, speechless. He chuckled with that broad grin of his, bringing his lips back down to Lucy’s.

And they kissed. They kissed for seconds, minutes, hours, pouring all their emotion into it until their breath ran ragged, but nothing could stop the smile from leaving their faces, even as small tears streamed down their faces. And as the stars shone down on them, they knew they would be together forever, because it’s always more fun when they’re together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I don't think I'll ever be able to express how much I love this chapter! It was so lovely to write. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
> 
> I actually spent quite a bit of time this summer learning some of the constellations in the sky. And it's true! The Big Dipper is a part of a larger constellation called Ursa Major. I'm pretty sure that the constellations are accurate for the time of year this takes place, because they move around quite a bit. At the beginning of summer, you could see Leo really clearly, but now in September, you can't see him, but Scorpio you can see. I recommend trying to learn the constellations because I think it makes the sky look just a little more beautiful when you look at it.
> 
> Again, leave a comment if you like, but you don't have to, and thank you so very much for reading!


	6. Cold Weather and Warm Memories

Natsu slammed the door shut as Lucy pulled off her boots, her cold toes numb from the freeze outside. A shiver racked her body, and she went to take off her hat and coat. It wasn't like she could just have the wet garments on; she might get sick if she did that.

When she was done doing all that, Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her to their couch, setting her down so he could go to the kitchen. "I'mma go make some hot chocolate," he told her, and Lucy only nodded, pulling the blanket on the arm of the couch over her body.

She knew it was going to be cold if they went out. She knew that, but despite the fact that it was winter and the wind could be heard knocking on their window, she still wanted to head outside.

She rubbed her hands together, hoping the friction would help her feel better. She shivered again, trying to bring the blanket closer to her body. The heat from the heater in their apartment soothed some of the chill, but it still wasn't enough.

It wasn't until Natsu finally came back with hot chocolate in hand that she felt any relief. She stretched her hand out to grab the mug, the heat coming off of it giving her cold fingers a soothing burn. With hot chocolate in one of her hands, she used the other to pull the blanket up, an offering for Natsu to sit by her. He easily accepted as he put an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

His hand was warm on her side, a reminder that the cold didn't bother him physically as much as other humans.

She took a sip of her hot chocolate, ignoring the slight stare Natsu was giving her. She brought her hand with the hot chocolate up to his face, silently asking if he wanted any, but he shook his head. She shrugged and went to drink it again. The warm trickled down her throat as it traveled throughout the rest of her body.

"You know," he started, and Lucy glanced at him from over her mug, "if we had just stayed inside instead of going out to see the Giant Christmas tree, you wouldn't be this cold."

Lucy froze for a second at his teasing comment before grumbling incoherent words under her breath as she brought the mug up to her lips, the steam doing wonders for her frozen face.

Natsu laughed, lowering his face to her neck to nuzzle it.

Lucy jumped, backing away from his cold nose. "Just because you can't feel your cold nose doesn't mean I can't either," she mumbled. His nose and his ears were the only things that could get anywhere near cold. "And besides, it was pretty, so it was worth it."

He laughed again, but brought his face back so that it rested on her clothed shoulder instead. He closed his eyes, simply taking in the scent of Lucy. "Whatever you say. At least you enjoyed it."

Lucy rolled her eyes, the slightest bit of a smile on her face. She went to bring the hot chocolate to her lips again, when a shine caught her eye. Her smile widened, turning into something closer to a smirk as she asked, "Do you remember when you said you were going to marry me on that beach when we were little kids?"

He tensed a little and opened his eyes, the memory being brought to the forefront of his mind. Natsu groaned as he tried to hide his face further into her shoulder. "Don't remind me," he said.

Lucy risked taking a glance at him, knowing full well she shouldn't, and she burst out laughing. His face was pulled into a frown, but the light blushing coating his cheeks was impossible to miss, and she knew it certainly wasn't from the cold. Lucy had to set her cup down on the coffee table in front of them before she spilled anything. She shook as she tried to take control of her laughter. "Why? It was cute."

"Oh, really? Are you talking about the part where I fell on my face or the part where I fell on my face?"

She wheezed as she clenched her sides with her hands.

A whine escaped him and he poked her side, only making her laugh harder. "Don't laugh about it!"

She shouted an "I'm sorry!" that didn't sound anywhere near sincere. But at another one of his pitiful whines, she gulped in the air in an attempt to stop her laughter. "Oh come on, I said okay after I stopped you from crying." She smiled in his direction.

"Riiiight, I think you're forgetting a couple details," he retorted, and Lucy had to stifle another laugh. "You forgot to mention how you said I'd have to wait until we were older, so I ended up crying anyway!"

"What did you expect me to say!" she exclaimed, she failed to hold back all her laughter as she chuckled. Her smile was wide, and her cheeks were starting to hurt so much from all her smiling.

He 'hmpfed', crossing his arms in a pouty slouch. At this point, the blanket was clumped up at their waist, the cold long forgotten. "You could have pretended to marry me...you were already wearing a white dress too." And she was. She had worn a knee length sundress that day with a sun hat that was just a little too big for her as a child and Natsu in shorts, a dragon shirt, and his scarf.

Lucy's eyes softened as she looked back at him, the love she felt for him hitting her tenfold. She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, and his eyes widened. "Well it doesn't matter anymore now, does it? Either way, I would have ended up marrying you." She lifted her left hand towards his face. A shiny gemstone shone directly in front of his eyes, the light catching its sparkle perfectly. "See?" she said, looking at the band that covered her left ring finger.

When she looked back at his face, a dopey grin was there, and next thing she knew, she was being pulled into the warm, familiar embrace of the man she loves, and she laughed. Yeah… it definitely didn't matter when they got married. Because it would have happened at some point anyway… eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again lovely readers! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you liked it. I've actually had this idea for a while, but never had much of a reason to use it. This prompt was supposed to be cuddling, and I hope I did the cuddling some justice.
> 
> Fun fact about this chapter: I got this idea from a jeep commercial! How? I don't know. I'm just glad I did, because it was so fun to write.
> 
> Another thing, I think I learned a lot from writing this, which I found really cool. I think that if you're with someone for long enough, then you begin to form a language of your own that is made up of small gestures and movements whereas, in a newly formed relationship, I think people tend to have to ask things and talk much more often. But I think that's the most beautiful thing about being in a relationship with someone...you get to learn about someone in a way that's so deep that you don't even need words to speak.
> 
> Then again, maybe that's just me. Anyways! Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to read this!


	7. Are You Ready?

When it came to crowds and heat, Lucy didn't take too kindly to them. Who wanted to be sweaty in a place where touching people was inevitable, she would argue. No, if she could avoid places like that, she would.

Well, unless it was the Summer Festival she had been going to for most all her life. There was only one reason Lucy loved going to the overcrowded and overheated Summer Festival that took place every year, and that was the lanterns.

To some, the lanterns wouldn't mean a thing to them, while others would simply find them beautiful. For Lucy, they held sweet memories that she'd had with her mother. And as she began to curl her hair to prepare for the night, she recounted the day of the first festival she spent without her mother in her head.

* * *

It was always a family tradition to go to the festival to see the lanterns when her mother was alive. But when her mother died, that changed. Not ever knowing someone who has died before, she didn't know to expect her father to turn cold. She didn't know to expect the tears she would cry at night. She didn't know about the despair and loneliness that would come to consume her. She didn't know about any of it, and that just might have been the worst part.

Even if it had only been a couple weeks since her mother's passing, when the day of the festival rolled around, she thought, Maybe, just maybe dad will do something.

But he didn't, and Lucy began to feel like she had lost more than just one parent when her mother died. So, she was left to believe she was going to spend the rest of the night crying into her pillow. The tear stains from the night before still littering the fabric.

If only she knew her new neighbor, who had heard the crying from her room, had different plans…

* * *

"Okay, I'm gonna go to sleep early!" Natsu shouted from above the stairs.

"Wait!" he heard his adoptive father shout. Loud stomping followed soon after until he saw him staring up at him from the bottom of the stairs. Igneel raised an eyebrow, saying, "What are you planning for going to sleep so early?"

Damn, Natsu thought, resisting the urge to wince. "Nothing!" he shouted. "I just wanna beat this kid named Gray to school tomorrow." He crossed his arms and scowled, hoping his excuse was good enough. It wasn't really a lie; he did want to beat the guy, it just wasn't the reason he was going to his bed early.

His dad eyed him suspiciously for a second before waving him off. A silent sign that he was free to go.

Natsu smiled widely before turning around to head to his room, shouting a "Night!" before he left.

In truth, Natsu was planning on sneaking out to get this girl out of her house...but his dad didn't need to know that.

For the past week and a half, all he had heard at night was crying and sobbing and even more crying. It became so annoying that one night, he was just going to open his window and tell the person to shut up and go to sleep. Until he heard her cry for her mom.

Now, he wasn't entirely sure who this person could be, but from what he heard in school, it was very likely this was the girl whose mother had passed away recently.

So, the next day, he decided to ask around about the girl, finding out that she's about the same age as him and that, apparently, this festival that was coming up was a big deal to her. That's what the bookworm he'd talked to said. What was her name again? Right, Levy.

Uber creative ideas that transcended even those of the most talented artists didn't normally come to Natsu, but he had to say the idea he came up with that day was better than anything he ever could have imagined.

It was simple, he would sneak out at night, grab the girl from her window across from his, and they would go to the huge park where that festival she was missing was taking place.

As Natsu entered his room, he hurried to snatch the pair of shoes under his bed and put them on. Carefully, he sneaked towards his window and opened it out, stepping on the small roof below it. He turned around to close his window and then jumped to reach the window of the girl across from him.

While he was trying to prevent as much noise as possible, he couldn't prevent the loud slam he made when his hands hit the ledge of the window. Wincing, he held on, wishing that Lucy's window could have had the same small roof his window had.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry too much because 5 seconds later, the window was opening, and there stood a blonde even he knew was beautiful. But soon after, he noticed the red nose and swollen red eyes. It seemed Lucy hadn't been very good friends with sleep recently.

As Natsu looked at her, he very quickly realized that he looked more like a burglar than a hero coming to save her from her despair. When she opened her mouth in what he thought was going to be a scream, he pulled himself into her window to put a hand on Lucy's mouth. "Don't scream!" he whisper-shouted. "Please don't scream."

Lucy quickly nodded, not sure what was going on herself.

Natsu sighed and finally pulled his hand away. He looked up at her, finding that she had these big, brown, glittering, orbs as eyes in the bit of sunlight left from the day. He cleared his throat to speak. "Uh, hi. I'm Natsu," he started, giving her a sheepish smile. "I'm your new neighbor. Me and my dad moved in a couple weeks ago."

He heard Lucy sniff and saw her curl up a little into herself, and he really hoped it wasn't because she was afraid of him. "Hi," she said, her voice soft and fragile, "I'm-I'm Lucy." A pause, then, "Why...what are you doing here?"

As if brought out of a trance, Natsu jumped, finally remembering why he snuck out in the first place. "Oh!" he shouted, making Lucy flinch. "Right." He smiled as he looked at her, and Lucy couldn't help but wonder just who this guy was. "Let's go to the Summer festival at the park!"

Lucy's eyes widened. "W-what?" she said. She wasn't sure whether she should be happy or freaked out by this. Who just comes in through someone's window to sneak them out for some festival? It was almost laughable. At least, it would have been if she wasn't actually considering going with this stranger. At least she knew his name.

"Come on, let's go!" he said, taking Lucy out of her thoughts. The widest grin Lucy had ever seen was on his face, and Lucy found herself surprised for the umpteenth time that night.

She took a second to eye him suspiciously. He had to have had an ulterior motive behind all this. He couldn't just be doing something like this for nothing, but as she continued to look at his ever-smiling face, all she could see was goodness.

Lucy huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes, before telling Natsu, "Okay. Just let me get my shoes on. We need to be very quiet, or else they might hear us."

"Alright!"

"Shh!"

"Oops...sorry. Alright!" he whispered, and once Lucy had her shoes on, he walked to the window, looking out of it to see how far the drop was. It wasn't too bad, he thought. "'Kay, we're gonna jump out from here, got it? Good. Are you ready?" he asked, holding his hand out.

Lucy bit her lip, looking at his open hand, but nodded nonetheless, taking his hand so he could pull her closer to the window.

Natsu smiled again, excitement and joy pumping in his veins, and he jumped.

* * *

Lucy smiled and as she finished up the last strand of hair she was curling, the sound of jingling keys interrupted her thoughts, and she knew it could only be one person, Natsu.

She set the curling iron down on the towel and turned it off, heading out of her room and into the living room right on time to see Natsu come in.

He smiled at the sight of her, and then he was brought back to the first time they went to the Summer Festival too. "Are you ready?" he asked her, putting his hand out for her to grab.

And Lucy didn't hesitate to take his hand. After that night, she never hesitated with him again, and that was just the way she liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have no idea what to say about this chapter. I came up with the idea in a day, and I actually really like how it turned out. I'm tempted to make a second part that explains what Natsu and Lucy did at the festival, but I don't really know what I would do for that...Anyways, I hope you had fun reading this chapter, and I'll see you when I update again tomorrow!
> 
> For those who are still reading my longer explanations, this chapter, I really wanted to have something that wasn't just, "Oh, they went to a festival and kissed, the end." I really wanted something different while still staying true to the prompt, and I think this did just that. I love the idea of someone hating something while still having exceptions for a select few other things. It makes it just a little more special. Like, I hate going outside when it's hot, but if I'm going outside to take pictures of nature, I'll make an exception.
> 
> I also didn't want this to be a Rapunzel lantern thing either, but lanterns are so pretty and I bought this metal lantern at IKEA a few days back, so I still wanted to incorporate lanterns somehow.
> 
> I love the way they met too! I don't think I expect them to meet that way until I was writing, and I certainly didn't expect to write as much as I did, despite the fact that it's only like 1,500 words.
> 
> Looking back on the story and rereading it, I actually think it's really beautiful, and I feel like what Natsu did here is seriously his type of thing to do. He's like an unconventional helper that helps you in ways that you least expect.
> 
> I haven't had anyone I've know very personally die before, but I can't see myself getting over it very easily. I'm not one who goes to people for help with coping and emotional stuff like that; I just wasn't really raised that way, but I feel like Lucy would have really needed someone with her to help her through everything. That's why I think Natsu taking her to the festival and becoming her friend would probably help in her grieving a lot.
> 
> Oh! And that line, "Are you ready?" I feel like in this universe I wrote, it's kind of like their own "Do you trust me?" from Aladdin or the "Okay. Okay." from The Fault in Our Stars. And I'm happy I could give them that.
> 
> Umm, I think that's about all I have to say about this chapter, but I really hope you enjoyed, and feel free to comment if you like. As always though, you don't really have to if you don't want to. Thank You!


	8. Halos

Through the years, Natsu had noticed one specific thing about Lucy. She liked making traditions.

He wasn’t really sure why. Sometimes he thought it was because Lucy was just a really creative person. She came up with ideas at the most random of moments. He would know.

One time, they were in a coffee shop, and Lucy heard someone sneeze. Next thing he knew, she was gasping and pulling out her phone as quickly as possible so she could write down whatever idea popped up into her head.

It was either that, or she really liked making random things special. Either way, Natsu didn’t mind very much as long as he could spend time with Lucy.

If you told him four years ago that he would be dating his best friend, he would have laughed in your face. Why wouldn't he? She was in a relationship, and he didn't even know how he felt for her.

At that moment, though, he and Lucy were walking from their home to the field of flowers near it. It was always something they did on the first sunny day of summer. It was like their time for winding down and soaking up each other’s presence. It was time they took to be happy.

Not that they weren't ever happy...It was just that sometimes it was hard to be happy when life was always demanding your attention.

When Natsu and Lucy finally got to the clearing, Lucy set off to find flowers as Natsu got busy laying down the blanket they brought to sit on.

Natsu gave a questioning look towards Lucy before she left, silently asking where she was going.

She waved him off, but he knew she would be back sooner or later.

It wasn’t too hot of a day, he thought. Which didn't surprise Natsu very much; it was still early in the summer. 

Natsu took his time, smoothing out the places in the blanket where wrinkles formed. He couldn’t be more grateful for the rocks that had brought, laying them down on the corners so that the wind wouldn’t blow the blanket every-which-way. 

Sitting down, Natsu sighed, taking in the scenery around him.

He could never really understand how he and Lucy came across a place like this. That was a lie, of course. It was easy to remember the day Lucy chased him into the woods for eating the dessert she had (secretly) prepared for him. 

Regardless, he had to admit that it was beautiful. Pink, yellow, red, and purple flowers surrounded them, and trees encircled the whole place in a bubble-like way. Clouds littered the blue sky like sparks did a fire, and Natsu felt that Lucy would probably end up taking inspiration from this place for her book.

Maybe the protagonist would come to this field to relax like they did. Maybe she would come here to battle the antagonist. 

He didn't know much about the book Lucy was writing, Lucy trying to keep her promise to Levy about her being the first reader, so he could only guess.

Natsu closed his eyes as thoughts continued to fill his mind. He wasn’t sure how much time he spent thinking, but Natsu had a feeling he fell asleep because the next time Natsu opened his eyes, he felt heavy and groggy. He sat up, stretching his arms towards the sky as he let out a big yawn, hoping that would get his blood moving a little.

“Hello, sleepyhead,” he heard Lucy say. He turned around to see her sitting beside him. Flowers, big and small, were scattered around Lucy as her fingers worked diligently on...something. 

Natsu saw her grab another flower and tie it onto the end of the flower chain she had going on. Her tongue stuck out and her brows were furrowed as she worked. It was something she always did when she had to focus. 

He smiled before asking, “What’s that for?”

“Huh?” Lucy said, looking up from her work. Natsu almost laughed, and he couldn’t help but wonder how she heard him wake up but didn’t hear him speak.

“I said, what’s that for?” he pointed towards the flowers, still not knowing for sure what she was using them for. A rope maybe? He didn't know what she would need a flower-rope for, though.

Lucy blinked and looked back to her flowers. “Oh!” she exclaimed. With one of the biggest grins Natsu had ever seen, she held up something that was beside her, shoving it in his face. “It’s a flower crown! See?”

And indeed it was. The colorful flowers wrapped around each other in a tight halo perfectly. So perfectly that Lucy could probably hold it with her pinkie, and it wouldn’t unravel.

Natsu smirked. “How long did it take you to learn how to do that?”

Lucy gasped despite not actually being offended. How dare he underestimate her skills? Even still, she told him with a prominent blush on her face, “I’ve been practicing for two months..."

This time Natsu did laugh, laying back down on the blanket to clench his stomach.

“Hey!” she shouted. “It turned out nice, didn’t it?”

As Natsu’s laughing slowed, he sat back up and said, “Oh yeah? So why are you making another?”

Lucy jabbed him in his side, making him flinch back with a puff of laughter. “ _ This one _ ,” she said, “is for you.” She tied up both ends so that they formed another one of those flower-halos and quickly placed it on his head.

Natsu’s eyes widened at the sudden weight on his head. He looked back to Lucy, seeing her put the other flower crown on his head. The bright colored flowers contrasted well with her black and white polka-dot dress.

“See? We match!”

This time, Natsu gave a soft chuckle.

He knew Lucy could be very serious sometimes, always focusing so much and what she had to do and how much time she had to do it. One of the other reasons he liked her traditions were because they were the few times she allowed herself to just live. She looked most beautiful when she was herself.

With his heart clenching almost painfully, he scooped Lucy up and fell onto his back with her above him. He hugged her as tight as he could without hurting her, and even then, it didn’t feel like enough.

“Natsu!” he heard her shout. “You’re going to mess up the flower crowns!”

He laughed at her. “You and I both know they aren’t going to mess up. You did too good of a job!”

“Is that a compliment I hear?”

“Pft, no, it’s just a fact.”

Lucy snuggled closer to him, putting her head in the crook of his neck. “Well, thank you anyway.”

“You’re welcome,” he said nonchalantly.

Natsu may not know exactly why Lucy liked making traditions so much, but even if he didn’t know his own name, as long as he knew he loved Lucy, he would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this should have been up yesterday. At least that was my plan. I'm so sorry! Either way, here it is! I'll have two chapters up tomorrow, but I hope you enjoyed reading this one. It's a lot a sweetness and beauty. It reminds me of my other one-shot that I uploaded separately from Constellations and Dragons. I think it's because of all the flower descriptions. Anyways, that's all, and I'll see you again tomorrow! Thank you!
> 
> I'll be honest, it was a little difficult to think up an idea for this. At first I was thinking, matching scarves! Awesome! Then I felt like that was too over done. I still love seeing it, I just didn't want to do the same thing.
> 
> I thought maybe matching jewelry would be a good idea. I saw a matching jewelry thing from this translation Webtoon called Flawless (If you have Webtoon, definitely /go check it out, you won't be disappointed). But I didn't know how to incorporate that into a one-shot either.
> 
> I can't even remember where I got the idea of flower crowns from! I've always wanted to learn how to make one, but never took some time to. I've seen my cousin make one before, and I could tell even then it takes practice. Two months of practice may be stretching it, but I think it's the type of thing Lucy would do if she wanted to.
> 
> That's it for now, so I hope you enjoyed it! Buh bye!


	9. Surprise for Two

“You’re WHAT?” Levy shouted, disbelief in her voice.

Lucy was quick to shoosh her, hoping her husband and 5-year-old baby girl didn’t hear them. It was 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday. If Lucy knew anything about their usual superhero escapades that ended late into Friday night, it was that it meant they wouldn’t be awake until at least 10:00. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Levy whispered. “But when did you find out?”

“I kind of figured it out when my period was late. I thought it was weird to begin with, but I didn’t bother worrying about it. Well, until I felt sick to my stomach after eating those dried mangos.”

“But you love those!”

“I know! Exactly.” Lucy smiled, her voice becoming breathy. “I just didn’t think I would ever have another kid again.”

Levy smiled sadly at Lucy.

“5.6 percent, Levy. That’s what the doctor said, at least.” She looked her friend in the eye. “Is it wrong to be scared?”

When Natsu and Lucy tried to have kids, it wasn’t as easy as planned. Especially when the fertility doctor they went to told them that Lucy’s chances of having a child were so low, so when they had little Nashi, they cried.

“No...But I think you should just be happy, Lu. It may have seemed impossible, but it happened, and that’s all that matters.” Giving her friend a much-needed pat on the back, she said, “So how are you going to tell them?”

“I was thinking of just telling the two. Why make them guess and wait?”

“Aww,” Levy said with a pout, “but that’s no fun.”

Lucy laughed. “That’s not my intention. Besides, it’ll probably be such a surprise that Natsu will pass out, and Nashi will start squealing. She always has wanted a younger sibling. I think it’s ‘cause she sees how your kids are.”

“Ah, I see she hasn’t seen them argue…”

Lucy was about to respond when she heard Natsu calling her name from their room. It couldn’t be 10:00 already, could it? She checked her phone to see that it was only about to be 9:00.

“Looks like it’s time to tell them,” Levy said. She smiled towards Lucy as she got up from the couch and headed to the door to open it. “I’ll be off then. Congrats, Lucy, I mean it.” And with that, she closed the door, leaving Lucy to break the news to her family.

“Lucy?” she heard Natsu say. “What’re you doing in the living room?”

She turned to him with a smile that held emotions Natsu couldn’t quite place. He raised one of his eyebrows. “Is...something wrong?”

Lucy laughed softly. “No, nothing’s wrong. Uh, did you check on Nashi? Is she awake too?”

It didn’t look like anything was wrong with her, so Natsu dropped it. He knew she would tell him at some point, even if it wasn’t now. Instead, he settled with answering her question. “Nah, she’s still sleeping.”

“Oh?” Lucy said with a smile. “So, what are you doing awake?”

Natsu only shrugged, saying, “Just felt like getting up.”

Of course, it was always that simple with Natsu. She rolled her eyes. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him along with her towards their kid’s room. “Come on,” she began, “I have a surprise for you and Nashi.”

“Hmm? Are you gonna make our favorite food?”

Lucy giggled, “Nope. I don’t think you’ll ever be able to guess.”

Natsu sighed with a smile. “Alright, I’ll wait.”

Lucy and Natsu walked into the room to the sight of their child rubbing her tired eyes, who was no doubt woken up by all the moving and talking coming from outside her room.

“Hey,” Lucy said, walking towards Nashi’s bed, “you up, princess?”

Nashi hummed.

Lucy smiled sweetly. “I’ve got a surprise for you,” she said as Natsu came to stand next to Lucy.

At the sound of a surprise, Nashi instantly woke up. “I want a surprise!” she shouted.

Natsu and Lucy both laughed as Lucy prepared to tell them about the big surprise.

“You want to know what it is?” Lucy asked, expecting her daughter to shout a big yes in her face, only to be surprised when it was Natsu who yelled instead.

“Yes, please!”

Lucy giggled again, getting close to her daughter’s ear so she could tell her quietly. “How would you like a little sibling?”

Nashi and Natsu’s eyes widened. Nashi whispered back to her mom. “Like a little brother?”

“Yeah, like a little brother.”

“That would be super cool!” she exclaimed.

Lucy smiled, not even noticing how Natsu had gone stock still. It seemed it all hadn’t really processed in his brain yet.

Another baby? He was going to have another kid? Natsu almost couldn’t believe it, but why would Lucy lie when she was exponentially sadder about her chances of having a kid than he was. 

It wasn’t like the kid thing was a deal-breaker for him, of course. He would never leave Lucy for that. If anything, he was sadder for her than himself. He knew she wanted a family of her own for the longest time, especially with how much she wanted siblings as a child. And sure, he hoped to have kids one day, but that’s what adoption was for. 

Even still, once the news really did process, all he could do was stammer incoherent words at Lucy. A strangled sound escaped him, and when Lucy turned to look at him, she almost cried at the sight of watery eyes she doubted he could feel building up.

So, she did the only thing she could. She took Natsu's hand and brought it to her belly as she let a tear slip down her face. “We’re gonna have a baby,” she whispered to him, and he let out a shaky breath.

“I’ll show them fighting like daddy!” Nashi said, oblivious to her parent’s tears as she jumped on her bed and threw punches into the air. “We’re gonna defeat you Mr. Lava Monster!”

Natsu tried to compose himself so he could continue their game of Superhero that began the night before. “No you’re not!” he shot back, taking a glance at his wife. With a smirk, he said, “And now I’ve got the queen as a hostage!” He cackled like a maniac as he scooped up Lucy in his arms to take her back to the living room as his ‘hostage’.

“Hey! I didn’t sign up for this!”

“Give me back momm—I mean, give me back the queen!” Nashi went to chase after her parents, yelling promises to defeat him and save the queen.

Her father laughed again, and soon enough Lucy was laughing too, thinking that she couldn’t possibly be any happier than she was then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so here is the first chapter I'll be posting today. The next one will be up in a few minutes. I took yesterday and a bit of today to finish this one-shot, but I kinda like how it turned out! A lot of the ideas that I got for this story are some things from my life, but other than that, most of it required my imagination and a bit of research. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU so much for taking so time out of your day to read this! I really hope you enjoyed!
> 
> So, uh, first off, no, I've never been pregnant, but when my mom was pregnant with me, she said she couldn't eat this vegetable or else she would vomit, but now she can eat it perfectly fine. And I didn't want to do the craving thing, but this is a pregnancy symptom too, so yeah. I actually really like dried mango! It's really tasty, but I wouldn't say I love it like Lucy does here.
> 
> And a few months back, I thought that I was infertile or something because I missed my period for like, half a year, but I knew I wasn't pregnant. I'm fine now, but the idea of not being able to have a kid didn't scare me or make me want to cry until that incident. It's honestly a really horrible feeling, so I wish the best for anyone who can't have children even though they wanted to.
> 
> And that superhero thing is kinda based on something my dad used to do when me and my sister were younger. He would pick us up and make us fly like superheroes. It was super cool and I loved it 'cause I felt like I was flying.
> 
> Anyways, that's all for this chapter. I hoped you liked it, and I hoped you enjoyed. Thank you so, so, so, much and goodbye!


	10. When We're Older

"Come on, Lucy!" Natsu shouted, dragging Lucy behind him by her hand, the other holding a small, red plastic bucket. The sun was hot and bright that day, yet it seemed it was not hot enough to heat up the sand beneath their feet as they speed-walked along the beach barefoot. "Come on, come on, come on! I wanna go find more shells!" Even at the age of 6, the two wanted adventure. Natsu just happened to be the one more actively trying to find it.

"But we did that yesterday!" she told him.

The family of the two children had decided to take them on a vacation to the beach before they needed to start up school again. It was a three day and two night stay, and they were on their second day now.

When Natsu's dad happened to tell him that living creatures could be found in shells, Natsu automatically wanted to search for one. When his dad told him that they're very difficult to find, he took that as a challenge. He couldn't do it alone, of course. That was why Lucy was coming along with him.

The only reason Lucy was okay with this at first was because she knew how pretty shells could be. She could keep the ones that didn't have any creature inside them (which was most of them…), but she was hoping to sleep a lot the next day, and Natsu just _had_ to wake her up early so they could go hunting for shells again. She wanted food and a bed, not more shells.

Lucy couldn't understand why Natsu was so determined to find that shell creature thing. Weren't the shells pretty enough?

"Stop walking fast, Natsu," she told him. "I wanna walk slower." She pulled his hand back as she planted her feet in the sand, stopping the boy in his tracks and almost making him fall. Lucy rubbed her eye as she yawned.

Natsu was facing Lucy, but he looked back towards the direction they were walking, as if the creature he was looking for might disappear forever. He looked back at Lucy, seeing her droopy eyes, regardless of the bright sun. Really, he was hoping to run there so they had more time to look for shells, but Lucy looked like she was going to pass out any moment, so he _guessed_ he could walk a little slower. Quirking his lips to the side, he said, "Okay, I can walk more slow."

As Lucy gave him a lazy smile, Natsu grabbed her hand to walk beside her rather than in front.

With Natsu now not in a rush, a comfortable silence settled between the two, leaving the children to their own thoughts.

Natsu didn't spend time thinking very often, mainly because he was too busy running outside or getting into fights with his friends. That's why, while he was walking, the conversation he had with his father earlier in the summer came to mind.

It was early in the morning when he'd woken up to his father making breakfast—a rare sight to see with how often he burned food with the microwave. As confused as he was, he decided to ask his father why he was trying to make food again.

Giving Natsu a cheery and strained, "Goodmorning!" he told him that he was trying to cook breakfast for his mother since it was their wedding anniversary.

"Wedding?" Natsu had questioned.

"Yeah, when you get married to someone you love very much and stay together forever."

Together forever? _That sounds awesome,_ Natsu thought. Lucy came to his mind right away. She was his best friend, after all, and he loved her. If they could be together forever, he would totally marry her! A wide grin grew on Natsu's face before he asked Igneel another question. "So, you can just go get married to somebody whenever?"

Natsu's dad laughed as he tried to flip the bacon in the pan over. "No...I had to ask her first, then you get married."

Ah, that made more sense. "Ohhh, okay," Natsu told him. Only the sound of bacon sizzling filled the silence before Natsu asked, "Can you make me bacon too?"

Igneel laughed again before handing his son a piece of bacon from the plate closest to him...He didn't have to know about the whole pound of bacon he had burned beforehand on the other plate.

* * *

"Lucy?" Natsu said, a big smile on his face. He let go of Lucy's hand to walk backward so he could face her.

Lucy tilted her head to the side in acknowledgment.

"Can I marry you?" he asked her, taking the young girl by surprise. From what she'd heard from her mom, only grown-ups got married. She thought it would be nice to marry Natsu. He was her best friend! She just didn't think she was allowed to now.

But before she could tell him anything at all, the next thing she knew, Natsu tripped and fell on the ground with a thump, his bucket skittering just a few feet away.

Lucy gasped, quickly crouching down. "Natsu!" She began to look him over, hoping he didn't somehow hurt himself badly. "Do you get hurt?" she asked, mimicking what her mother would ask her anytime she fell. I don't have a band-aid, only mommy does."

She looked at his face, only to see his eyes had become watery. Panicking and a little scared, she told him, "You can marry me if you want." She smiled, hoping that it stopped the oncoming tears. To her relief, it did. That was...until she told him the next part. "But we have to wait until we are grown-ups."

Natsu's bottom lip quivered before he began to cry loudly, and, once again, Lucy didn't know what to do. So, she relied on what she had seen her mother do countless times before. Lucy wrapped her arms around her best friend and rubbed slow circles on his back. "I'm sorry!" she said, "But mommy says only grown-ups get married. That's why we have to wait. Then we can get married and be together forever!"

At the same words his father had told him, his crying stopped, on soft whimpers and sniffles coming out of him. "R-really?" he asked her.

"Mhmm! And then we can go finding shells too!"

And at the mention of shells, Natsu was reminded that he still found the creatures. "Oh yeah! We have to find the crawly creature fast, Lucy!"

He grabbed ahold of Lucy's hand for the third time that day to lead her to find shells, only to stop in his tracks when a colorful orange caught his eye. Turning back around, he saw the thing that must have tripped over. Gasping, he dragged Lucy down to crouch and look at it. To believe it was a shell!

"Ooh, that one is pretty. Can I keep it too?"

About to say yes, Natsu stopped himself when he noticed the shell begin to wiggle. With another gasp, he said, "No, look! That one moves! It moves, Lucy!"

"Woah…" Lucy said softly. "You found your creature, Natsu! Are we taking it to the house?"

"Of course we are! I have to show pops that I could find one!"

Understanding quickly, Lucy went to go fetch the bucket that had fallen a few moments before. "Here," she said as she handed the bucket to Natsu.

He grabbed it quickly, trying to find a way to get the creature to crawl into the bucket without him having to take it in his hands. When it finally got into the bucket, Natsu righted the bucket up and grabbed Lucy's hand so they could make their walk back to the beach house.

Natsu and Lucy didn't know how special that moment would be to them in the future. No, but that was fine, because they were content with just being together that morning, and nothing could change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to write this chapter! If you haven't noticed, this is the memory that Lucy was reminding Natsu of in the chapter "Cold Weather and Warm Memories". This wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I saw that Jeep commercial, but I still love it just as much as the other idea. I can't believe I made it through the whole week! It's kinda hard to believe I wrote for all 7 prompts. Thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you liked this chapter and all the others as much as I liked writing it! But don't worry, I'm sure I'll post another one-shot in the next week. I have a few ideas...It isn't over yet! I promise you that.
> 
> On another note, I may have been excited to write this chapter, but it was not easy to write. I mean, how do you write children dialogue? Really all I did was give them a few simple grammatical errors here and there, and I hope that did it justice. Honestly, I really feel like kids are always so curious and stuff, so I made sure to express that in the chapter too. I feel like little kids are also really honest when it comes to their opinion, so if you ever want someone to tell you the truth, just go to a little kid!
> 
> Another thing. I feel like little kids are a lot more perceptive than we think them to be despite some of their scattered brains that jump from one topic to the next. Even if they don't understand what they're hearing, they will remember it and understand it in the future. Hopefully I portrayed that a little in here too.
> 
> I was originally going to make it so that they found a pearl in an oyster or something, but I like that I made it the little creature instead. They were so happy at the end, so I really enjoyed that. It was just super cute to write.
> 
> ...You know, I'm not even sure if people are reading these notes at the end of the chapters, but if you are, I hope you find them as entertaining as you find my stories! That's it for now, so thanks, and I'll see you the next time I update!


	11. A Fairy Tail of Modern Times

“Natsu...Natsu!” Wendy called out, her long blue hair fluttering behind her with the breeze she created as she ran. “It is time for you to get to school! Natsu!” She was met with silence, and frustration filled her to the brim. What was _so_ difficult about going to school? With only one year no less. She was still stuck with _seven_ more years! How long had she been trying to get him to go to school now? Was this what her parents always had to deal with? If so, she didn't know how they did it. She certainly couldn't. She was already tired, for goodness' sake! 

She sighed. She shouldn’t be having to deal with this. It was time to bring in the big guns. “ _ Mom _ would not approve of this, Natsu.”

Finally, Natsu quickly poked his head out from behind one of the many suits of armor in the castle. He wasn’t really trying to face his mother’s wrath this early in the morning… “Wendy! Why didn’t you call me sooner?” Natsu said. Pretending to check his nonexistent watch, he continued, “Oh, look at the time; looks like I have to go to school, don’t I? Welp, gotta go! Bye, Wen! Love ya!” He went running off, looking back to see his dear sister’s stunned face. Cackling, he turned back around as he continued running...

Only to crash into one of those same suits of armor he was hiding behind.

“Natsu!” he heard Wendy shout, her footsteps sounding in the large hall.

He groaned while he rubbed his forehead. “Ow…”

“Are you okay?” she shouted once she reached her brother.

“Yeah,” he said, getting up. 

Wendy shook her head. “You wouldn’t have to be running if you had just gone to school when you were told to instead of hiding." Wendy sighed at her brother. "Speaking of school though…”

“Yeah?” he asked, still rubbing his head.

“You have only 5 minutes to get to the school now, and it’s going to take you at least 10 to be driven there, and that’s  _ if _ there’s no traffic,” she finished.

Natsu’s eyes widened, and he swore. Quickly getting up, he went off running again.

* * *

“Shit, shit, shit, shit shit,” Natsu chanted, running up the steps of the school like a pack of zombies were trailing behind him. He rapidly tapped at the buzzer near the entrance, knowing full well that it would annoy the hell out of the secretaries in the office until they finally let him in. 

Natsu was about to open the door when someone near him cleared their throat. He froze and turned to the person only to wince at seeing who it was. Of all people he could have run into it just  _ had  _ to be the principal. The only good thing he could see from this was that it wasn't Erza who found him.

“Natsu,” the short man said, “you’re late. Again.”

“Ehe, Gramps! How...how ya doin’? I...had to help my little sister with school...stuff,” Natsu replied. He was in some deep trouble. Not that it was the first time. He just hoped his punishment wouldn’t be too severe.

A vein bulged from the old man’s forehead. “Do you expect me to believe that after all the other times you’ve been late?” he asked in a voice Natsu was all too familiar with. If the way Gramps was slowly taking in forceful breaths was anything to go by, it was that he was restraining himself from shouting at Natsu. At least he had that going for him. “Alright, I have a new student in my office right now, and she is waiting to have a tour of the school.” 

Natsu tensed. Those words alone gave him an idea as to what his punishment would be, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. 

“ _ You,”  _ Makarov began, “will be the one to show her around, and I will make sure that when I ask her how her tour went that she won’t be lying for you.”

Natsu gulped. “Y-yes, sir.”

Mr. Dreyer straightened his poster. “Good. Now, if you would, follow me...”

With no other choice but to do what he asked of him, he followed.

If it were anyone else, giving someone a tour of the school wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, they would be ecstatic to miss class for something as simple as this. In Natsu’s case, it was almost the equivalent to a death sentence. 

People didn’t know he was the prince of Fiore. In all honesty, no one knew who the prince was because the royal family kept his face (and name) hidden. It led to rumors that the prince wasn’t real and that he died as a baby, but if it meant he could have a semi-normal life, then so be it. That’s what Natsu’s parents wanted for him in the first place. He still had no idea how they were able to keep this thing up. He would have to reveal his identity at some point, wouldn't he?

Regardless of if he was the prince though, most girls fawned over him, and he hated it. He didn't get why all his guy friends were so jealous. Going to school was like being thrown to a pack of wild hyenas. Natsu could only imagine how much worse it would have been if they knew he was a prince. 

All that aside, when it came to giving tours, all the girls in the school he passed would either try to touch him or get his attention, ultimately ignoring the teacher in the process and making said teachers hate Natsu. They always thought he was getting their attention on purpose. NEWS FLASH: he wasn't.

_ This is  _ not _ going to be fun,  _ he thought.

Natsu was so worried and lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize they had reached the office until he almost hit a wall. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he entered, his head downcast.

“Natsu,” Makarov called, “this is Lucy Heartfilia. She will be the one you will be showing around.”

Slowly, Natsu looked up. There was a frown on his face, but when he saw the face of the girl in front of him, his frown slowly turned into a look of disbelief, eyes wide and mouth agape.  _ She can’t possibly be human, _ he thought. Shaking his head for the second time in less than 5 minutes, he cleared his throat. “Hi!” he said smiling, “I’m Natsu, and it looks like I’m gonna be your tour guide for today.”

She turned and smiled back at him and for a moment, he thought his heart was going to explode. 

_ What is this feeling? _

“‘Kay then, lead the way!” she said. Before exiting the room, she turned to the principal, “Thanks for getting me a tour guide, Mr. Dreyer. I’d hate if I got lost on my first day…”

Makarov gave a hearty laugh. “No problem, my child, the pleasure was all mine.”

Lucy smiled again and bowed her head, finally leaving the room.

To her right stood Natsu, leaning against the wall with his foot propped up. In front of him, there was a picture frame with an image of a sunset on a beach. Below read the words, “Nothing good gets away.”  _ Interesting… _ she thought.  _ But not very true. _

“What, the words?” she heard a voice say.

She looked to the right at Natsu. “Huh?”

He laughed. “Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. Come on,” he said, motioning her to follow him. “It’s time for that tour I’m s’pposed to give you.”

It was early, meaning people would be in classes or in the hallway. Natsu was trying to run into the least amount of people as possible, so he went to his favorite place in the whole entire school: the cafeteria. 

He began to talk as they walked. “As you can see, lockers are on the outside of classes." He tilted his head towards Lucy. "That’s basically every hall in this school. We’re heading to the lunchroom right now, though! It’s not the only place you can eat. There’s always the picnic tables behind the school too, but not a lotta people use ‘em. My friends and I do. It’s kinda like our hangout spot. You could go there with me today to meet all my friends since you're new!”

She glanced at him before answering. “Umm, yeah sure!” She giggled. “It’d definitely be a lot better than eating alone, that’s for sure.” She peered forward. “Is this it?”

“Yup! This is the entrance to where the greatest treasure of Fairy Tail lies.”

Natsu opened the doors for Lucy, allowing her to enter and scan the cafeteria. Basic, round lunch tables littered the cafeteria, and on the right was where she assumed people stood in line to get food. At the far end of the cafeteria were doors that she guessed led to the picnic tables Natsu was talking about beforehand.

Hesitantly, she asked, “Would...would we be able to go see those picnic tables you were talking about?”

“Oh, yeah, sure! There’s a really cool garden that some people planted a couple years back too. It’s real pretty. You seem like the type of person who’d like it.”

She turned to him defensively. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” she shouted.

Natsu simply shrugged his shoulders, not really getting why she sounded so upset. “Nothing, all I’m saying is that pretty people tend to like pretty things.” A moment later, Natsu realized the words he said. “Ah! I-I mean...a-a lot of people like those gardens, everyone really. Not that I’m taking back that you’re pretty or anything I-I just—I mean…” He looked at her. Her face was just about as red as a tomato, and it was all because of his stupid comment. Natsu groaned and began mumbling to himself. “Man, I haven’t even run into any annoying girls, and I’m already messing up this stupid tour. This is why I hate doin' this stuff.”

After a moment of silence, Lucy let out a small laugh and smiled. “Thank you, Natsu," she said. "Can we go see the picnic tables and that garden still?”

Natsu looked at Lucy with wide eyes, thanking whatever higher being there was up there for allowing him to meet this girl filled with sunshine, warmth, and kindness. He smiled at her as his eyes softened. “Sure. Come on, follow me.”

He opened the doors and let Lucy pass, allowing her to take in the scenery. Natsu supposed that he hadn't been very specific when it came to where the garden was. It was actually right behind the picnic tables, with woodchip covered paths that let people walk through the area. It was beautiful, he guessed. So when Lucy looked at the place with awe and amazement, he couldn't say he was surprised.

"This place is amazing!" she shouted as a large smile spread across her face, and Natsu found himself smiling too. 

Having seen it so many times, the scene didn't take his breath away. He had already seen all of the colorful flowers that scattered the area. He'd seen the butterflies and bees that flew around the place too, but her smile was infectious.

Natsu didn't know Lucy very well yet, but he could already tell from just her reaction that she admired the simple things in life. There was no other reason to explain why she looked like she had just walked through a portal and into a magical universe.

"They call the gardens the Fairy Heart," he told her. Natsu never really knew where the name came from. It wasn't really something that he ever questioned, but looking at Lucy now, he thought he understood why the gardens were called that. Because only a Fairy Heart could possibly make someone as beautiful as Lucy shine as she did now.

Natsu's eyes widened as his own thoughts processed in his head. What was  _ wrong _ with him! When had he ever found himself fawning over a girl?  _ She's different, _ his inner thoughts told himself, and he had half a mind to smack himself in the head. He refrained, of course, not wanting to look like a psycho in front of Lucy. It was not because he liked her, it was just because she was new and, so far, hadn't gone to cling to his arm like a leech.

He heard Lucy chuckle and say, "The name really matches, doesn't it?" 

Natsu turned to look at her as he prepared to reply. But at that moment, the sun shone down on her to make her absolutely glow, and he found trying to reply wasn't even an option anymore.

"I think I'm really liking this school," Lucy said, but Natsu was still not able to bring himself to speak. Maybe he was right; maybe she wasn't human.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts like he had the first time. "T-that's, umm, good! That's really good. I'm glad," he finally said.

He expected Lucy to look at him weird or question why he was acting so strange, but like an oblivious child, she simply smiled at him and said, "So, where to next?"

Taking a second to compose himself, he cleared his throat and smiled back at her. So maybe he found Lucy attractive. That was fine! He had tons of attractive friends, so Lucy should be no different. He wanted to be her friend. She was really nice, and he could tell she was strong-willed from that outburst she had earlier. She would be an awesome friend, and he wouldn't let something like  _ emotions _ ruin that. "Let's take a walk through all the floors. I'll show ya how all the classes are organized."

"Great!" Lucy said, clasping her hands behind her back and walking back towards the cafeteria. With her eyes closed, she smiled as the sun continued to illuminate her, and Natsu was beginning to believe his previous words less and less.

Because not falling for Lucy seemed impossible now. Was falling for someone so quickly even possible to begin with? He wasn't sure, but he didn't think he would mind it either way, not if it was Lucy he was falling for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! I'm back, and it has been much longer than a week...I'm sorry! Anyways, I hope you liked this one shot of mine. I was tempted to save this and make it a full story, but I don't see this going anywhere other than school drama, and I wasn't really feeling up to writing that. Regardless, I hope this chapter was fun for you to read, and I hope I made some of you guys' day!
> 
> I've actually had this idea of Natsu as a prince in some modern time, hence the name, for a couple months now, but I didn't post it until now. The high school is kind of based on what my high school looked like and what another high school from this sports event I went to looked like. It's a mix of both. I don't know if it's just my high school that did the whole buzzer thing in order for you to enter, but mine did, so I wanted to add that.
> 
> This one-shot genuinely made me smile while I was writing it so I'm really happy with the outcome. I will admit that the ending was a little abrupt for me, but other than that, it turned out nice, I think! I don't know if this matters much, but I should probably mention that I have a tumblr, haha. It's literally the same thing as my username on here if you're interested in following me.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment if you'd like! I'm always happy to hear what people think. Again, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you whenever I update next! Bye!


	12. Everlasting Gold

They were young, maybe 17, but their minds were years older. In the corrupt and unjust world they lived in, they only had each other, but they never really found themselves wanting anything more.

Jobs were scarce, and the ones people had weren’t guaranteed to last. In turn, money became a rarity. Some people grew humble and cherishing because of this, while others became hungry with greed.

Luckily for Natsu, he worked as a goldsmith, a job that had run in his family for years. It didn’t make him like one of the wealthy people who bought the jewelry made from the wires he made, but it allowed him scraps that were just as good in his book.

Natsu grabbed her hand as they sat close to each other in the dusty, hay-covered barn, lips swollen and hair mussed from hours spent kissing. 

He loved these moments in his life; the quiet ones with the one he loved. Nothing seemed to be able to touch them in this little safe haven of theirs. It was only luck, and maybe fate that they were able to find this abandoned barn not far from where they lived.

As Natsu used his other hand to pull something out of his pocket, he could feel Lucy’s eyes on him, questioning just what it was he was going to do now. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she thought he was planning on pulling a prank on her. The thought alone made him smile.

Despite their circumstances, it didn’t stop people from trying to be happy, from living life like a normal human would. Whatever normal was, that is.

But when Natsu instead pulled out a thin, circular piece of gold, it took all but one second for Lucy to register what his intentions were and gasp.

“W-wh—how did you—” she tried, but Natsu could see he had truly left her speechless. It was almost comical if not for the fact that Natsu was  _ very _ serious about what he was about to do.

Even so, he laughed at her stuttering, hoping it would calm her down in some way. “It’s a ring…” he said like it wasn’t obvious enough. He dared to look his love in the eye, a smile on his face. 

Lucy tried to laugh, but a small gasp escaped her instead as she continued with her stuttering. “I...but you...how?” she tried again.

All Natsu did was chuckle. “It’s amazing what a few scraps of gold can do, huh.”

Because that was really all it was, scraps of gold that were left to cool at the end of the day. Natsu didn’t have enough money to buy a thick band with a giant diamond, but he had thin wire that could be wrapped around itself and be made into a strong bond.

It wasn’t anything special to a normal person. There were no intricate designs to the ring and no special engravings either. It wasn’t even melded to form a single piece. Only the wire held it together, and it seemed only the wire was all it needed. It curled around the strands of gold many times, keeping everything in place and secure.

“You…” Lucy said, “you are so—ridiculously—wonderful,” she cried out.

Maybe he should have prepared a speech, telling her all the things that he loved about her. But then he would be speaking for ages, describing all the small things he loved about her and all the giant things she did too. He would have been telling her about how he loved how she bit her lip when she was thinking and how he found her pouting adorable. He would have told her how her determination left him in awe as he saw the fire that burned in her eyes…

He could have told her all of that, but he didn’t. He wanted her for the rest of his life, and if she said yes, then he would be able to tell her all those things and more until the day they die.

Natsu held her face with one of his hands as his eyes softened. He brought his forehead to lean against hers and began to whisper his words. “I love you, Lucy, and I want to spend the rest of my life and more with you.” He smiled. “So, if you would be so kind as to accept my hand in marriage—” Lucy laughed, and Natsu could only guess it was from his unusual formality. He smiled. “—I just might be the happiest man in the universe.”

Lucy didn’t outright say yes, probably couldn’t. She nodded fervently instead, throwing her arms around him as the tears finally came down.

“I take it that’s a yes then?” he asked.

She laughed once more, though this time through tears, and finally gave her answer. “Yes!” She shouted. “A thousand times, yes.”

She pulled away, and Natsu took this chance to put the golden ring on her shaking finger. She was crashing into him right after, her lips capturing his in one of their most passionate kisses. 

And they laid there again, in that dusty, hay-covered barn with swollen lips, kissing each other as if the world would end at any moment. But they knew it wouldn’t...because despite how difficult life could be, it would never be cruel enough to take away this moment from them. 

Laughter and smiles cut in between their kisses, but they always went back for more. They couldn't get enough of each other.

Natsu didn’t feel like the happiest man in the universe. No, he thought he may have been the happiest man in all the universes. Lucy made him feel like the entire world disappeared, and she made his heart feel on fire every time she smiled.

When the sky grew dark, and only the moon and stars illuminated the night, Natsu pulled away with another bout of laughter. “Are you ever going to let me go?” he asked, though they both knew neither really cared.

She kissed him again, saying, “Never. I will never let you go, Natsu Dragneel.”

He pulled her closer to him, feeling as if the love he held in his heart for her might make that same heart explode. “Then I’ll never let you go either. Never.”

Call it young love, say it’ll never last, but they knew what was true. They held an eternal love for each other that would outlast time itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, wasn't this chapter just lovely? Honestly though, this chapter did make me very happy, and I had to stop a lot while reading it over because it made me smile so much. I hope you liked it as much as I did, and thank you for reading!
> 
> But really, I got this idea from trying to make rings out of some golden wire. They turned out so beautiful despite how simple they were, and so the idea just cropped up from that. Then the idea of them having so little but treasuring something that was that simple just made my heart flip. So I had to write it! There was no leaving the idea alone because doing that would have killed me!
> 
> I had to do a little research on what the job was for making those wires for jewelry even was, and I ended up learning the job was called a goldsmith. From what I heard, it's a very difficult job, but it really fit the story, and I think it just made sense to do that. I ended up researching proposals too! The way some people proposed made my heart do tons of flips too just because they were so sweet and wonderful. Reddit, you guys! It's so useful when it comes to writing.
> 
> And yeah, it's kinda late in the day, but I really wanted to get this up because of how excited it was making me, so yeah!
> 
> This little one-shot was short, simple, and sweet, and I love it so much! So, thank you again for reading if you've read this far down, and I'll see you next time!


	13. Bruises

Lucy held onto Natsu tightly as he tried to get up from the bed for the fifth time that evening. He laughed as he smiled at her. “Come on, Lucy, can ya let me up already?”

It was late, probably close to midnight, but if Lucy listened close enough, she knew she would be able to hear the loud and rowdy cheers of the guild from down below. She had no doubts that as soon as he went down there, he would end up getting into a fight with everyone one way or another. That was the last thing she wanted, especially with how injured he was now.

Bandages covered his torso and limbs, wrapping around them tightly. There were other small band-aids on his forehead and arms, covering up the smaller cuts too. At least his skull was intact, she thought, but Lucy shouldn’t have been surprised about that. He had a thick skull, and she didn’t think anything could get through it.

She shook her head, burying her face further into his chest. "No!" she shouted, her words muffled. "You can't leave here until you're completely healed."

"I can't heal if I'm just stuck laying down," he said. "You don't see  _ me _ making you stay in bed when ya get hurt…"

Lucy lifted her head up and glared at Natsu. He couldn’t possibly be serious right now. If anything, staying in bed was the only thing she ever did when the roles were reversed. Hell, even when she was all healed up, he would offer to carry her like if he didn’t she would die! 

She did find it sweet sometimes, especially when he would be gentle with her and kiss the bruises that still hadn’t healed even after a week. 

But that didn’t mean she never wanted to strangle him. When extreme with his actions and his protectiveness, it bugged Lucy to no end, and it was only after remembering everything they had been through that she began to let it go.

Natsu was still smiling, carefree as ever, and Lucy wasn't sure if she would continue being okay with it if he didn't stop. It was so frustrating!

He had almost died—again, and with that new, near-death experience came another scar. It wasn't too bad this time around since Wendy was there to fix most of the damage, but it would still matte his skin, making the normally tan skin, a slightly lighter color.

Lucy bit her lip as her vision became blurry. She covered her face with his chest once again and closed her eyes. Her tears stuck to her eyelashes and soaked into the bandages that wrapped around him. 

Lucy didn't understand why it still hurt her so much. It wasn’t like it was the first time he was getting hurt, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last. That didn’t make it any easier though.

Losing Natsu was the last thing Lucy would ever want to happen. She didn't think she could ever survive never seeing him again. He was her best friend and her love all wrapped into one. Natsu was the person that didn't necessarily complete her, but instead, make her a better person—make her want to  _ be _ a better person.

She felt a hand on her head, warm and always familiar. “There’s no reason to cry, ya know.”

“I’m not crying,” Lucy said, sniffling after despite her denial.

Natsu laughed again. “Sure doesn’t sound like it to me,” he said.

“I’m not!” she tried, holding him tighter than before. He hissed in pain, and Lucy quickly realized that she was hurting him.

She raised herself off of him, now straddling his form. “Sorry!” she shouted, looking him over to make sure he was okay. She scanned his body, making sure she didn’t open any of his smaller wounds. Those were always more prone to opening back up again.

When she got to his face, she found Natsu staring at her, a strangely soft expression on display. He brought a hand to her face, wiping away a stray tear that had managed to slip through.

She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes. 

A sense of calm washed over her, almost making her forget just where they were and what had happened. Ah, but she could never forget no matter how much she wanted to. When forgetting wasn’t possible, Lucy couldn’t only tell herself to learn from this and take it as Natsu getting stronger and being less likely to get into these life-threatening situations again.

Of course, she knew deep down that wasn’t possible either. Natsu was the type of person who craved a fight as much as he craved a challenge. It was one of the things that made him who he is, and who was she to change that? She wouldn’t dare.

She heard Natsu sigh, slowly bringing her back down to rest on his chest. She took in a breath, reveling in the scent of pine and campfire that was solely Natsu.

She had never understood Natsu’s obsession with her scent before. Whenever Natsu nuzzled her neck and breathed her in, she would get embarrassed, and it was always so much worse when it was around other people. She grew to understand why he did it after a while. Once she breathed in his own scent, there was no turning back. She realized just how calming it was to breathe in the scent of the person she loved and just how much it helped when things became difficult. 

It was comfort and it was home and she loved it all.

Her head rested above his heart, her ear, catching the sound of its slow and rhythmic beating.

The sound soothed her, and it made Lucy feel something that was neither fear nor calm. It was like an ache she felt throughout her entire body, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or sigh, but she felt content.

_ Love _ , she thought. She felt love and absolute adoration for the man beside her. She didn't think it could be anything else because, despite all the fear and uncertainty that was waiting for them in the future, he was safe now, and that was what really mattered.

“I love you,” Lucy said. “I really, really do.” She hugged him tighter, careful of his cuts and bruises, as she continued to listen to the beating of his heart.

Natsu put an arm around her waist, hugging her back, and though he didn’t say it, she knew. He loved her too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with another one-shot! I think this one actually turned out really sweet, and while I don’t have much to say about what I wrote this time around, I will say I am excited for December finally being here! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I was looking at writing prompts back in November to kind of get my brain working and think up ideas, so now I have roughly 30 new one-shot ideas. I’m only planning on writing about 10 of them for this month, but it’s still something! It’ll be like intervaled December Days of Nalu.
> 
> Anyway, that really is all for today, and I’ll see you when I update next! Thanks!


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